Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Lansky Lieutenant Mickey Cohen was Instrumental in the Downfall of Richard Nixon

Be forewarned: This is a PR release - "fake news" - for the Cohen biography, and some of the following statements may be inflated or oversimplified - they are certainly biased to promote the book. - AC

Richard Nixon relied on mobster Mickey Cohen to help him get elected to the House and the Senate. Nixon took money from Cohen and his mob friends, including bookies around the United States.

New York, NY (PRWEB) July 17, 2007 - A new book by celebrity biographer Brad Lewis finally tells the story of famous gangster Mickey Cohen, the west coast leader for Jewish mob boss Meyer Lansky, boxer, bodyguard, blackmailer, pimp, bookie czar, gambler, haberdasher, restaurateur, racketeer, thief, and Robin Hoodlum to the poor and dispossessed.

"Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen" (ISBN: 1-929631-65-0) examines the mixed morality life of the Los Angeles-based mobster who reigned from the 1930s until his death in 1976.

I found 'Celebrity Gangster' intense, dramatic, a real page turner.

Late in 1945, Republican leaders chose Nixon to run for representative from the Twelfth District against popular New Deal Democrat Jerry Voorhis.

Nixon knew he would lose the election without Mickey's help and imprimatur: Los Angeles was a Mickey stronghold; he controlled the territory that Nixon sought. Ambitious Nixon had no interest in returning to law practice in provincial Whittier. In order to run for the House seat, he surrounded himself with local powerhouses. To ensure Mickey's backing, he wisely asked for a meeting," said the author, Brad Lewis.

In 1950, Cohen held a fundraiser for Nixon in the Banquet room of the Hollywood Knickerbocker Hotel, attended by hundreds of U.S. bookies, including every big Vegas gambler. Nixon personally thanked the bookies!Columnist and showman Drew Pearson described the political play-by-play as "one of the most skillful and cut-throat campaigns I have ever seen."

Nixon ran a dirty anti-Semitic anti-Communist smear campaign against her--he called Douglas (Helen Gahagen) the "pink lady"--using the mob's money and won the election.

Pearson's "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column stayed with the Cohen-Nixon story for years, despite Nixon's purported friendship with Mickey.

When Nixon beat Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election, Cohen was still in prison. Cohen said "…let's hope he isn't the same guy I knew as a rough hustler… I never had no idea that this guy Nixon could go anywhere…" That year Pearson published Cohen's entire statement about his dealings with Nixon.

Some of the facts featured in "Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster" include: How Mickey Cohen made extortion sex tapes of Marilyn Monroe.